This study aimed to explore healthcare providers' perceptions of the issues and problems as well as suggestions regarding the development of cancer survivorship care models in South Korea. An exploratory, descriptive, qualitative study was conducted with eight Korean healthcare providers using individual interviews. Purposive sampling was performed in a university hospital in Gyeonggi-do, Korea. Three concepts of the Chronic Care Model (CCM) were employed to identify the issues and problems with developing a survivorship care model for Korean cancer survivors...

Driving cessation for people with dementia is a significant personal safety and public health issue. Home healthcare professionals frequently encounter situations where patients/clients should not continue to drive, and family members are unaware of how to approach the issue. This article will inform readers of the current state of the healthcare driving assessment process, measures and instruments used to assess, and effective strategies and resources when working with families facing the dilemma of how and when to proceed with a driving cessation plan...

Purpose Criminalization of drug use in Malaysia has concentrated people who inject drugs (PWID) and people living with HIV into prisons where health services are minimal and HIV-related mortality is high. Few studies have comprehensively assessed the complex health needs of this population. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach From October 2012 through March 2013, 221 sequentially selected HIV-infected male prisoners underwent a comprehensive health assessment that included a structured history, physical examination, and clinically indicated diagnostic studies...

Chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) remains a controversial illness category. This paper surveys the state of knowledge and attitudes about this illness and proposes that epistemic concerns about the testimonial credibility of patients can be articulated using Miranda Fricker's concept of epistemic injustice. While there is consensus within mainstream medical guidelines that there is no known cause of CFS/ME, there is continued debate about how best to conceive of CFS/ME, including disagreement about how to interpret clinical studies of treatments...

Prescription opioid misuse and abuse in the United States (US) is epidemic and is a major burden on healthcare resources and costs to society. The need to significantly reduce the risks of prescription opioid misuse and abuse must be balanced with the important needs of patients with chronic pain who may benefit from treatment with opioids. The use of abuse-deterrent formulations (ADFs) of prescription opioids is one approach that could reduce the risk of prescription opioid abuse and misuse while maintaining access to opioids...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Amendments Act of 2007 granted the FDA new authorities to enhance drug safety by requiring application holders to submit a proposed Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS). A REMS is a required risk management plan that uses tools beyond the package insert. REMS elements may include a medication guide and patient package insert for patients and a communication plan focused on health care professionals. Elements to assure safe use (ETASUs) are put in place to mitigate a specific known serious risk when other less restrictive elements of a REMS are not sufficient to mitigate such risk...

Current functional capacity (FC) measures for patients with schizophrenia typically involve informant assessments or are in paper and pencil format, requiring in-person administration by a skilled assessor. This approach presents logistic problems and limits the possibilities for remote assessment, an important issue for these patients. This study evaluated the feasibility of using a computer-based assessment battery, including simulations of everyday activities. The battery was compared to in-person standard assessments of cognition and FC with respect to baseline convergence and sensitivity to group differences...

DNA sequencing advances through next-generation sequencing (NGS) and several practice changing events, have led to shifting paradigms for inherited cancer predisposition testing. These changes necessitated a means by which to maximize health benefits without unnecessarily inflating healthcare costs and exacerbating health disparities. Areas covered: NGS-based tests encompass multi-gene panel tests, whole exome sequencing, and whole genome sequencing, all of which test for multiple genes simultaneously, compared to prior sequencing practices through which testing was performed sequentially for one or two genes...

: This article is based on the Hugh Greenwood Lecture delivered at the 2016 Congress of the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons. It presents the view of the global surgery movement from the bottom of the surgical food chain and proposes what HICs (high-income countries) can do for global surgery in a coordinated fashion. From the LMIC (low- and middle-income countries) surgeon perspective, global surgery is transitioning from the charity-based surgery model to codevelopment with multiple stakeholders...

Single disease state led evidence-based guidelines do not provide sufficient coverage of issues of multimorbidities, with the cumulative impact of recommendations often resulting in overwhelming medicines burden. Inappropriate polypharmacy increases the likelihood of adverse drug events, drug interactions and non-adherence. Areas covered: A detailed description of a pan-European initiative, 'Stimulating Innovation Management of Polypharmacy and Adherence in the Elderly, SIMPATHY', which is a project funded by the European Commission to support innovation across the European Union...

This paper sets out to explore the similarities between the developing discipline of speculative and critical design (SCD) and science fiction, and their relevance to the medical humanities. SCD looks beyond 'commercial design' to consider what sort of things we should, or should not, be designing in order to create preferable futures. It does so by extrapolating from current social, economic, political and scientific knowledge, designing artefacts, experiences and scenarios which communicate futures and alternative realities in tangible ways...

There are many indications in Australia and globally that asthma management is suboptimal. Ideally, patients need to proactively self-manage the condition with the support of health professionals. Community pharmacists are a highly accessible resource for patients but currently provide inconsistent services. General practitioners also face many barriers to the provision of chronic disease management for asthma patients. The aim of this research was to characterise patients with asthma who present to community pharmacy...

BACKGROUND: With the successful improvement of global health systems and social security in societies, the world is now advancing toward aging. All countries have to face the phenomenon of population aging sooner or later depending on their degree of development; however, elderly care is predicted to soon become a major concern for developing countries such as Iran. OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to identify the challenges of elderly care in Iran and to help policymakers develop roadmaps for the future through providing a clearer image of the current state of affairs in this area of healthcare...

BACKGROUND: Balance is one of the risk factors for falls in older adults. The use of smartphone applications (apps) related to health (mHealth) is increasing and, while there is potential for apps to be used as a self-managed balance intervention, many healthcare providers are concerned about the content and credibility of mHealth apps overall. PURPOSE: This study evaluates the quality of balance promoting apps and identifies strengths and areas of concern to assist healthcare providers in recommending these resources...

PURPOSE: Though more people in the United States currently reside in assisted living facilities (ALFs) than nursing homes, little is known about ALF admission policies, resident care needs, and staffing characteristics. We therefore conducted this study using a nationwide sample of ALFs to examine these factors, along with comparison of ALFs by size. DESIGN: Cross-sectional secondary data analysis using data from the 2010 National Survey of Residential Care Facilities...

The proportion of older immigrants in the population is expected to increase in Sweden. Research indicates that older immigrants face the double burden of frailty, caused by a weaker health status, and the immigration process. Health promotion interventions can be used to prevent frailty and support healthy ageing in this population. Healthcare professionals are a crucial part of health promotion and the present study aimed to explore healthcare professionals' experiences of health in context of daily life among older immigrants to and provide a basis for the development of a health promotion intervention targeted at older immigrants...

BACKGROUND: Mobile technology to support community health has surged in popularity, yet few studies have systematically examined usability of mobile platforms for this setting. METHODS: We conducted a mixed-methods study of 14 community healthcare workers at a public healthcare clinic in São Paulo, Brazil. We held focus groups with community healthcare workers to elicit their ideas about a mobile health application and used this input to build a prototype app. A pre-use test survey was administered to all participants, who subsequently use-tested the app on three different devices (iPhone, iPad mini, iPad Air)...

The purpose of this study was to describe the level of integration of community health workers (CHWs) into Missouri public healthcare systems using a cross-sectional survey research design. Representatives of all Missouri Local Public Health Agencies, Rural Health Clinics, and Federally Qualified Health Centers were pre-contacted by telephone to provide the electronic mail of the most knowledgeable person in the facility/location to complete a brief electronic survey on their use of CHWs. 103 representatives of the 273 (37...

Aim The aim of this literature review was to explore the reasons why some patients are not suitable for discharge following day surgery. Method A pragmatic, mixed-methods approach was used to undertake a critical evaluation of the literature and current practice to determine what is already known about discharge following day surgery. Thematic analysis was used to identify the main themes and issues, enabling recommendations to be made to reduce the incidence of patients unable to be discharged following day surgery...